Bus Parking

[vas borbokis]

I thought it clearly showed last night how very hard it is to break down a motivated and well drilled defence in parked bus mode.
Chelsea had loads of the ball trying to work an opening v Norwich but once there are 8 or even 11 men behind the ball there's always someone closing down and denying space. Then a quick counter and you're in trouble.
Utd seem now to be up against this most weeks - not so much earlier in the season.
I cant help feel we need to let teams have more ball and encourage them on to us more. Ie try to draw more men upfield by not pressing hard and then work on breaking rapidly before they can get back in position defensively.
When you have all the ball all the time its like someone said on here 'herding sheep'. They all end up in the sheep pen - the penalty area.
It doesn't seem to matter how good your own players are. It is damned hard to get through after you have penned an entire team in to defend their own box.
Hoping Wilder anf Knilly can work this out..
UTB!

 

[wizadry]

I disagree about letting the opposition have the ball more, we just need to be better in the final third, making better decisions and doing things a lot quicker, Wilder will sort it but the players have to produce aswell.

 

[vas borbokis]

Know what you mean but even Chelsea with much more skillfull players struggle against 11 average Norwich players all 'penned' in.

 

[Dkc]

You counter this by fast, one touch football and not pondering on the ball. You pass it around fast, backwards and forwards, probing for an opening, making runs off the ball and making passes, dummies and back heels the opposition doesn't expect. We haven't been doing so much clever one-touch stuff of late but this may be because teams are matching our formation but playing more cautiously and marking tight. Plus as a player that can make things happen, Coutts was a big loss. Hopefully Brooks is back soon. As long as we have the players to play an attacking game, I'm not sure we should change tactics. How many games have we deserved to win but ended up losing or drawing? We've been lacking a bit of luck lately too - though I must admit the way the 10-man pigs carved out chances was worrying.

 

[HVR]

Also you basically keep working, not give the ball away and create one chance which you put away. That involves two things. The crowd being patient and not tutting and groaning and saying, "they should not faff around with it - cross it to no one in the box instead." and of course, the striker waiting patiently and then scoring from the ball delivered to his feet / head - when that pass comes.

 

[Sheffsteel]

I disagree about letting the opposition have the ball more, we just need to be better in the final third, making better decisions and doing things a lot quicker, Wilder will sort it but the players have to produce aswell.

Last season teams in league 1 realised how good we were and they used the tactic of “parking the bus”.
We then started to struggle to create much even though it was non stop attacking from us.

So how did Wilder solve the “park the bus” problem last season?

He went out and bought James Hanson from Bradford.
We then had the option of lumping it into the box, Hanson would stand in the penalty spot area winning loads of headers.

Eventually teams realised that parking the bus with someone like James Hanson on the pitch wasn’t a good idea.

So it’s not just about having better technical players. Players like the immobile Gary Madine, James Hanson or even Nuhiu are very effective when the ball is lumped into a crowded penalty area. Not saying we should buy these limited players. I’m just offering food for thought and proving that Hanson, although limited wasn’t as useless as what people think.

 

[Dkc]

Also you basically keep working, not give the ball away and create one chance which you put away. That involves two things. The crowd being patient and not tutting and groaning and saying, "they should not faff around with it - cross it to no one in the box instead." and of course, the striker waiting patiently and then scoring from the ball delivered to his feet / head - when that pass comes.

...and you need to be very patient if when you get close they have eight players in their box defending. But if you are good enough you can still carve out chances. A good, unexpected pass can take out a couple of defenders. But such chances always stem from one touch football. If you take a touch to control it, as we seem to have been doing of late, you often lose the opportunity.

 

[Dkc]

Last season teams in league 1 realised how good we were and they used the tactic of “parking the bus”.
We then started to struggle to create much even though it was non stop attacking from us.

So how did Wilder solve the “park the bus” problem last season?

He went out and bought James Hanson from Bradford.
We then had the option of lumping it into the box, Hanson would stand in the penalty spot area winning loads of headers.

Eventually teams realised that parking the bus with someone like James Hanson on the pitch wasn’t a good idea.

So it’s not just about having better technical players. Players like the immobile Gary Madine, James Hanson or even Nuhiu are very effective when the ball is lumped into a crowded penalty area. Not saying we should buy these limited players. I’m just offering food for thought and proving that Hanson, although limited wasn’t as useless as what people think.

Ched or the Don could potentially play the Hanson role if it comes to that

 

[Sharrow Snuff Mill]

I thought it clearly showed last night how very hard it is to break down a motivated and well drilled defence in parked bus mode.
Chelsea had loads of the ball trying to work an opening v Norwich but once there are 8 or even 11 men behind the ball there's always someone closing down and denying space. Then a quick counter and you're in trouble.
Utd seem now to be up against this most weeks - not so much earlier in the season.
I cant help feel we need to let teams have more ball and encourage them on to us more. Ie try to draw more men upfield by not pressing hard and then work on breaking rapidly before they can get back in position defensively.
When you have all the ball all the time its like someone said on here 'herding sheep'. They all end up in the sheep pen - the penalty area.
It doesn't seem to matter how good your own players are. It is damned hard to get through after you have penned an entire team in to defend their own box.
Hoping Wilder anf Knilly can work this out..
UTB!

Letting the opposition have more of the ball and encourage them on to us is crazy. Get at them with slick, fast passing and taking players on. Let them defend against that for 90 minutes, and if they don`t concede then give credit where it is due, and look to improve your own game.

 

[BushBlade]

I thought it clearly showed last night how very hard it is to break down a motivated and well drilled defence in parked bus mode.
Chelsea had loads of the ball trying to work an opening v Norwich but once there are 8 or even 11 men behind the ball there's always someone closing down and denying space. Then a quick counter and you're in trouble.
Utd seem now to be up against this most weeks - not so much earlier in the season.
I cant help feel we need to let teams have more ball and encourage them on to us more. Ie try to draw more men upfield by not pressing hard and then work on breaking rapidly before they can get back in position defensively.
When you have all the ball all the time its like someone said on here 'herding sheep'. They all end up in the sheep pen - the penalty area.
It doesn't seem to matter how good your own players are. It is damned hard to get through after you have penned an entire team in to defend their own box.
Hoping Wilder anf Knilly can work this out..
UTB!

It can be an effective tactic, Leicester won the league playing that way but I'm not convinced we've got the players for it.

 

[Ricky]

If we sat deep and invited attacks like teams have against us, does anyone honestly think we wouldn't concede? It's not our game, and naturally the first chance the opposition create flies in anyway. So it's not something I'd like us to do for long periods in games.

It could be something to consider for certain periods of games but we'd need to have Brooks on the pitch ideally.

 

[Bellypork]

Last season teams in league 1 realised how good we were and they used the tactic of “parking the bus”.
We then started to struggle to create much even though it was non stop attacking from us.

So how did Wilder solve the “park the bus” problem last season?

He went out and bought James Hanson from Bradford.
We then had the option of lumping it into the box, Hanson would stand in the penalty spot area winning loads of headers.

Eventually teams realised that parking the bus with someone like James Hanson on the pitch wasn’t a good idea.

So it’s not just about having better technical players. Players like the immobile Gary Madine, James Hanson or even Nuhiu are very effective when the ball is lumped into a crowded penalty area. Not saying we should buy these limited players. I’m just offering food for thought and proving that Hanson, although limited wasn’t as useless as what people think.

If Nuhiu had pace and was a prolific goalscorer too, what would he be worth?

I'll wager neither of the Sheffield teams would see the edge of him.

 

[Bellypork]

The big loss for me is Coutts, no question. It would have been more difficult for Wednesday to play that way had he been available.

But the reality is that playing the sort of open, attacking football which the Blades have been playing has a limited shelf-life, unless you have the best all-round players in the division.

That's why Carlos changed tack in his second season.

My criticism of him wasn't that he changed styles after that first season, it's how he implemented it.

 

[Wards]

The additions of Evans and Leonard should help draw teams out a bit as they’ll not be able to sit off them and let them shoot as they’re better from distance than anything we’ve currently got.

 

[Mousey]

Last season teams in league 1 realised how good we were and they used the tactic of “parking the bus”.
We then started to struggle to create much even though it was non stop attacking from us.

So how did Wilder solve the “park the bus” problem last season?

He went out and bought James Hanson from Bradford.
We then had the option of lumping it into the box, Hanson would stand in the penalty spot area winning loads of headers.

Eventually teams realised that parking the bus with someone like James Hanson on the pitch wasn’t a good idea.

So it’s not just about having better technical players. Players like the immobile Gary Madine, James Hanson or even Nuhiu are very effective when the ball is lumped into a crowded penalty area. Not saying we should buy these limited players. I’m just offering food for thought and proving that Hanson, although limited wasn’t as useless as what people think.

Nail hit firmly on the head. Fleetwood was the last game we lost in League One and this was the last game we played without Hanson in the squad.

How do you counter a threat like Hanson? Play a higher line outside the box. What does that allow? Players to get in behind the defence.

Against the Pigs I said we could have done with Hanson on as soon as they went down to 10 men.

 

[John Street West Terrace]